Lateral support for humans on flat vehicle seats



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

, JOHN W. D/XO BWM/vih( my@ ATTORNEY "lll Feb. 4, 1958 J. wd DIXON KLATERAL SUPPORT FOR HUMANS ON FLAT VEHICLE SEATS Filed Sept. 19, 1955Feb. 4, 1958 J. w. DlxoN 2,82%033 LATERAL SUPPORT FOR HUMANS ON FLATVEHCLE: SEATS Filed Sept. 19,Y 1955 2 Sheets-SheeT/Z INVENTOR. JOHN W.DIX ON Fp m/7 ATTORNEY United States Patent LATERAL SUPPORT FOR HUMANSONFLAT VEHICLE SEATS `ohn'W. Dixon, ShakerHeights, OhioApplicationSeptember 19,1955, Serial4 No. 535,121

5 Claims. (Cl. 15S- 182)y This invention relates to lateral supportmeans for the upper part of' the body ofA a person driving or riding inan automobile ort other vehicle, andhas' particular' signi'canee in'A'connection` with" vehicles having wide dat seats such as thosedesignedfor an optional third' passe-nger.

With long distance travel, lateral support of the upper torsois badlyneeded, by the driver because his arms and shoulders tir'e' as he'liasLto grip the wheell to overcome sidesway on curves a11 'l"bump`s all`of'wliich reduces his control ofthe car andcauses cumulative tensioninthe arms andV throughout; the b`o"dy and`y by passengers who tend' toLslide sideways -or fall ontbthe next person all of which" is verytiring' and dangerous.

It is an object of the present invention to provide simple andinexpensivel meansY for" overcoming" the above mentioned diieulties. Y

Another object ist'o provide easily r'em'ovable and adjustable lateral14support' means for a human torso with respect vto avk vehicleV seatback.

Broadly, the means employed in' the' embodiments hereinlillustr-ated anddescrib'edfcomprise's a pair ofsolid back resiiien-t pads eachv havingmeansv torits removal from or laterally adjustable connectionl to a webor strap meansI fastenedwith-respect t'o theseat back. Preferably thepads have' tapered frontwardly extending'resilient; surfacesV so as toTiitl at th'e rearsides ofv the" large of a human back just l'ell'ivvkthe armpitsL andj in back of the chest to-give comfortable support asltheWei-ghtis thrown againsteither pa'd.

@ther objects andadvantage's will1 become apparent and the inventionwill be better understood from consideration of the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawinfggin"which:`

Fig. l is avside-elevational-view showing a human body as seated in avehicle on a seat having a seat Aback provided with' lateral`supportpad. -mealns in accordance with the invention;

Fig.'A 2de an enlarged-view of. afp'ortiiorr of the seat rback oil Fig:l vanclshovving. thelateralfsupport padA in"v section;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view showing a portion of the support padand associated seat back as viewed along the line 3 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a plan View of a seat back and associated parts according tothe invention but showing a modification in which safety seat belts areused in conjunction with the lateral support pads;

Fig. 5 is a rear View along line 5 5 of Fig. 4 to show a portion of theseat back equipped with a holeless strap buckle as may be used inconnection with the arrangei ments of Figs. l-4;

Fig. 6 shows a modication in which the strap means is fastened into theseat back upholstery, or seat cover;

Fig. 7 is a rear View of a resilient pad having modied strap engagingand locking means; and

Fig. 8 is a cross section on line 8 8 of Fig. 7. Heretofore backconforming adjustable supports for humans have been known but they havenever been simice ple enough nor universal enough to acquirel anyv greatusage on automotive Vehicle seat backs. In order to provide equipmentinexpensive to make', easy to install and adjust, and easy to removeandI store (as inthe vehicle glove compartment), I provide for eachvehicle occupant a pair of; lateral support resilient pads suchv as theone shown at 10' in Fig. l. For each' such pad, means are provided (ashereafter described) for selectively removing it from or securing itto astrap or web 11i cornpletely encircling or otherwise associated with aconventional seat back 12. Thus as a human being' 13'Y sits upon anassociated seat bottom 14, for example as a driver holding a steering.wheel 15', he is supported by pad it) (andits mate) preferably at theback sidesju'st below the level of the arm pits so that he isY protectedagainst side sway and need not grasp the wheel so hard (-orvr losecontrol of the vehicle) if he `is the" driver, or tire himself tryingYto otherwise support his upper torso' if he is a passenger.

The internal construction of the resilient pad (lill)y with means foradjustably and removably fastening it to the strap means (11) maytake'many forms and as shown in Fig. 2 the padv has an outer 4clothcovering surrounding a resilient padding material such as foam rubber 21which in turn conforms to the front outline of a solid block member' 22conveniently made of wood, metal, plastic or other suitable rigidmaterial. A vertically extending meta-l clamp member 2'3- is shownhinged at its top with respect to the block Z2. A clasp or spring latch24 is adapted to firmly grasp the: clamp 23 and hold it with respect tothe block# with the strap or web 11` held in non-'slipping engagementvbetween these two members, or alternately when the ylatch is-open,` thewhole pad may be readily removed from (or slipped over) the strap; 1fdesired, non-slipping engagement of the strapv when the clamp is' lockedmay be assured by providing roughened or corrugated surfaces on one orboth lof the clamping members ZZf-ZB.

As seen in Figs. l and 2, at top and bottom the pad tapers inwardlytoward the front, and as seen iny Figs. 3 and 4 the sides of Vthe padstaper inwardly toward* the front, allv in order that the pads Will'i'tsnugly up under the armsof the humany being supported and still besubstantially 'symmetrical side for side and top for bottom so that theycan be put on the strap interchangeably and either `way (right side up-or up side down, and either at one side or the other).

In Fig; 4 Ihave shown an arrangement where one pair of pads 10a arearrangedv asA to'acc'omrnodate an adult and another pair of pads 10b arearranged as to-accommodate a child, and at their fronts each of the padshas an -eye hook 41 for securing a safety seat belt 42 so that pads inaccordance withV the invention 4not only `serve their lateralsupport-function but also `serve -as convenient members for retainingthe ends of such safety restraining means htting across the chest. Suchsafety restraining means across the chest is more etective in preventinghead and chest injury than a conventional seat belt fastened across thehips, provided the accident is not so severe as to detach the entireseat from its anchorage to the vehicle. For very severe accidents thechest strap described herein is a useful supplement to a conventionalseat belt anchored directly to the vehicle frame.

As seen in Figs. 4 and 5 the main support strap 11 may completelyencircle the seat back 12 and be fastened at the back of the seat by aconventional holeless strap type buckle 50 (so that the belt can befastened at any point without depending upon strap perfor-ations). Thusthe strap may be pulled tight and made to indent the seat ends as at 51to avoid vertical slippage at any predetermined verti'cal height ofstrap 11.

Another arrangement is shown in Fig. 6 in which the end of a strap 11ais sewed into the upholstery or seat cover of back 12 as by stout thread61, and while this arrangement does not have the advantage of verticaladjustment it does provide production economies whenever apparatusaccording to the invention is to be provided as original equipment or aspart o'f an accessory seat cover. Of course the strap termination andthread or other fastening need not be made at the back of the seat asshown in Fig. 6, but could be made partly at the seat ends or entirelyalong the front of the seat back.

While in connection with Figs. 2 and 3 I described a top hinged clamp23, I have found that it is not necessary that there be an actual hingebecause if the clamp 23 is somewhat resilient it may be securelyfastened to the block 22 at its top and still serve its intendedpurpose4 Alternatively, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the clamping membermay be entirely rigid and merely be a piece cut to provide a stiff andunyielding tongue 70 with a cut out U 71 for accommodating strap 11between tongue and a tongue support base 72 secured as by screws 73 to ametal insert 74 which in turn is secured to the internal rigid block 75.Since the strap may slip through such an engagement an additional Ushaped member 76 is slipped over the strap and tightened thereupon as bya thumb screw 77 to form the clamping means. It is contemplated, ofcourse, that the clamping means (76-77) will be located on the side ofthe pad 10 away from the human body.

There are thus provided arrangements of the character described capableof meeting the objects above set forth. I have found that a passenger ordriver encounters little difficulty with his own hips tending to sway,but unless side restraint is provided he encounters great dicultybecause his upper torso tends to swing like an upside down pendulum asthe vehicle encounters curves or bumps. The simple and inexpensive meansdescribed herein corrects this condition particularly well because theapparatus is so universally adjustable to accommodate any size humanwith each pad 'fastening means just squeezing the strap and notdepending upon locations of perforations therein. The pads are`completely interchangeable, very easy to clamp with respect to the seatback, very easy to move or remove and to store. With the invention thedriver no longer need grip the wheel so hard and the faster the vehiclegoes the easier it is to turn while much less muscular effort isrequired by the driver to hold his own position around corners or onrough roads.

While I have illustrated and described particular embodiments Variousmodiiications may obviously be made without departing from the truespirit and scope of the invention which I intend to dene in the appendedclaims.

I claim:

l. Lateral support for humans on at vehicle seats comprising strap meansarranged to extend laterally with respect to a vehicle seat back and tobe secured with respect thereto, and a pair of independently adjustableresilient pads each having means for laterally adjustable connection tosaid strap means.

2. For providing removable and adjustable lateral support means for ahuman body with respect to a vehicle seat back, the combination of aseat back, laterally extending strap means associated with said seatback, and a pair of resilient pads slideable over the strap means, eachof said pads having a bottom opening and manually operable catch meansfor selectively gripping the strap means at a predetermined laterallocation to suit the comfort and convenience of a human body while eachpad is removable upwardly with respect to the strap means as for storageofthe pads.

3. For providing adjustable lateral support means for a human body withrespect to a vehicle seat back, the combination of a seat back, strapand associated buckle means adapted to encircle said seat back whilemovable vertically with respect thereto except when buckled, and a pairof forwardly extending resilient pads each having at its back a manuallyoperable spring release and ratchet 'catch means for engaging the strapmeans at a predetermined lateral location, whereby the pads may beadjusted both vertically and laterally with respect to the seat back tosuit the comfort and convenience of a human body to support the sameagainst lateral movement with respect to said seat back during vehiclemotion.

4. In a torso supporting accessory for motor vehicle seats, strap meansformed to extend laterally with respect to the back of an associatedvehicle seat, a pair of padded blocks having solid block backs andresilient padding with covering tapering inwardly forwardly from thesides and from the top and bottom substantially symmetrically top andbottom and symmetrically side for side with each block back havingrearwardly thereof a metal clamp member secured at one end with respectto the block back and adapted to be opened at the other end toaccommodate the strap between the clamp member and the block back, andmanually operable catch means at the end of said clamp member oppositethe hinge end and for securing the clamp member with respect to theblock back with the strap firmly grasped therebetween, whereby toprovide the advantages of bucket seat backs on an ordinary straight seatback of a car, truck, bus, airplane or the like.

5. In a torso supporting accessory for motor vehicle seats, thecombination as in claim 4 further characterized by a covering for anentire seat back with thc strap means terminating in permanentfastenings in said covering.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,081,111 Manley May 18, 1937 2,664,140 Kindelberger Dec. 29, 19532,665,143 Rasmussen Ian. 5, 1954 2,689,604 Hourruitiner Sept. 21, 1954

